offhand
off·hand
adverb
1.
2.
in a casually inconsiderate manner
- “replied offhand, his mind a million miles away”
- “she threw him over offhandedly without even a Dear-John letter”
adjective
1.
with little or no preparation or forethought
- “his ad-lib comments showed poor judgment”
- “an extemporaneous piano recital”
- “an extemporary lecture”
- “an extempore skit”
- “an impromptu speech”
- “offhand excuses”
- “trying to sound offhanded and reassuring”
- “an off-the-cuff toast”
- “a few unrehearsed comments”
2.
casually thoughtless or inconsiderate
- “an offhand manner”
- “she treated most men with offhand contempt”
Origin
From Middle English *ofhande, *ofhende, from Old English ofhende (“absent, lost”), ultimately from Proto-Germanic *abahandijaz. Equivalent to (and re-formed as) off- + hand. Cognate with Icelandic afhendur. Compare onhand.
Phrases
- off the top of one's head
Related words
Word family
Pertaining to
WordNet 2.1 (Princeton University). Wiktionary (CC BY-SA). CMU Pronouncing Dictionary. WordNet 2.1 Copyright Princeton University. All rights reserved. Wiktionary content is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike Licence.